Posts tagged "pharmacy"

Something seems to come over us when we write an ad brief, my planner friend reminded me this morning. It’s the way we do our best to cram everything about the product/condition/patient into one ad. We forget completely how we as consumers interact with ads; forget that below-the-line materials are on this earth only to communicate the underlying support for the product story.

I had a quick browse of OK! yesterday afternoon (dermatology research). The ads in there are graphic and simple. Their feel and message happened to me automatically, without conscious decision. Clarins just stepped right on in there. Bang, I was Gucci’d. But that’s a good thing. I didn’t have to waste time and delve into reams of body copy to know what it is these brands were trying to say to me. The same thing they were saying in their first, second, 500^th print ad. One-dimensional, loud and clear. Intent - a quick reminder of high-end status. (Plus a little eye candy for the logo lover.)

We’d hardly dream of addressing healthcare professionals this way, because we seem to feel we need a myriad of reasons to excuse ourselves. The disease area needs innovating, here’s why, here’s how we help, here’s the whole deal in microscopic detail. Certainly, HCPs need this information - but a brand ad just can’t and shouldn’t carry all of it. Instead, we must communicate quickly the offer/ position in the one elegant wrapper of a creative idea or perhaps like Gucci, a proud identity. To keep our messages simple we can use a separate, successive approach - that’s why we often roll things out in campaigns.

However, healthcare is a major area of research and advancement and that’s why drugs and services are constantly turning over. Research shows that a small amount of inner detail is appreciated by HCPs, so we have room for a couple of clear sentences in our work. OK, our clients are not Gucci, but we can still learn from such brands. Manufacturing processes kept to the label, leather ageing techniques communicated in store, deals kept to a business-to-business environment, and endorsement happens via PR. The ad is left to communicate the feel of the brand as simply and elegantly as possible. Isn’t what really sticks in our heads the stuff we don’t have to think about too much?

To build upon this and make it relevant to our proposition here at Hive. Using the ad to communicate an element of the story, and the whole mix to contribute to a bigger idea which exists outside and above that of the ad concept seems to us to be a better way, and should provide not just a brand feel but a story and richness that contributes to a truer more in depth relationship.

So POM to P switches are 25 years old, but for me everything changed in 2002 with the publication of the list by a RPSGB led working group of potential candidates for reclassification from POM to P. At the time there was talk of an avalanche of switches coming through the system, the industry got itself all expectant, the pharmacy profession was nervously excited and everyone prepared themselves for the new era.

So what happened? Despite all the positive hype, it hasn’t quite worked out as hoped for, either for the industry or the profession. Certainly the avalanche never arrived, and I doubt now it ever will.

I think if you asked industry executives, hand on heart, has switching been commercially successful, so far most would admit it hasn’t. If we believe POM to P has a role to play in the future of treatment management, and that pharmacy has a key role to play in diagnosing and managing conditions – both of which I passionately believe in – we really need pharmacists to start proving that they believe it too.

I have no doubt that for a host of conditions and ailments, the best place to treat and manage (and even diagnose) is in the pharmacy. Some 30 per cent of GP consultations are for minor or self-limiting conditions, most of which are in areas that pharmacists are either well or sometimes better equipped to deal with.

Couple this with the fact that our healthcare system has disenfranchised so many people and that vast tracts of patients/consumers are increasingly looking to their high street clinician – the pharmacist. One begins to wonder how it could go wrong.

I run a communications agency and over the years I’ve worked on a host of switches. I’ve spent a great deal of time talking to pharmacists about their role, their attitudes to conditions and treatments, and most importantly how they interact with their customers.

We develop training and tools to support pharmacy knowledge, and to help create a positive dialogue with customers around a condition or treatment. We also spend a great deal of time talking to the pharmaceutical industry about how to support pharmacy – so I do see things from both the industry’s as well as the profession’s side.

As far as the industry is concerned, innovation drives growth. Generic proliferation and own-brand competition mean that you can’t sit still. POM to P switching provides a huge area for innovation. It’s a ready-made pipeline of proven products for key conditions and it can breathe extended life into brands coming off patent.

With the new community pharmacy contracts and the evolution of pharmacists into service providers, the case to move more chronic care into pharmacy is compelling. Diagnose simple and even not-so-simple conditions, and the management of complex conditions follows closely behind. Whether pharmacists acknowledges it or not, the industry believes that the high street has a vital role to play in the future health management of the nation.

There is no doubt that the pharmaceutical industry produces fantastic support for pharmacy. The quality of support that exists for POM to P switches keeps getting better and better. The extent of investment in pharmacy for launches is now greater than I’ve ever seen. And it’s not unrecognised. Pharmacists acknowledge it openly. So why is it so difficult to get lift-off with a new POM-P medicine?

We acknowledge that the industry believes in pharmacy, but I believe, more importantly, that consumers believe in pharmacy too. So who is missing from this picture?

In truth, no one. Industry, consumers and the profession are passionately committed to an extended role for pharmacists. So it’s a perfect storm then? Sadly not. Because whilst the profession is supportive, there is a latent caution that affects launches so overtly that it brings to question whether switching is a viable long-term option.

From conversations with pharmacists this new world seems exciting, but quite daunting too. Diagnosis, long-term management, counselling, guidance, advice… all words that to a greater or lesser degree create nervousness. This new way has an impact on the way pharmacists operate – much more front of counter, the visible face in the store, more time intensive. So who sorts out the prescriptions? Who does the things that keep pharmacists so busy normally? Are they really able to diagnose? It’s a brand new world, and for many a scary one.

In reality switches should be the ideal conduit for this transition. The regulatory framework around switching is rigorous, designed to protect all, often to the detriment of efficacy. The products switched invariably fulfil a clear consumer need, and driving new people into pharmacy for new solutions should be good for all.

Consumers are open. They too like innovation, they want better treatments, to be able to quickly fix problems, get an appointment on their terms.

Sure it’s true that they are not yet used to more complex discussions with pharmacists. They feel a bit uncomfortable, unsure – but that’s easy enough to fix, isn’t it? Professionals, on the high street, ready to put people at ease? Perhaps the truth is that pharmacists aren’t used to these sorts of discussions either or just scared to have them.

The traditional role of symptom management will never disappear, but with the competitive environment the industry operates in being unsustainable without innovation, the truth is that without pharmacy engaging with POM to P switching and supporting it as a category, the industry will have to change tack. It cannot afford for innovation to go unrewarded in terms of sales.

This brings me to a final conundrum. I regularly hear cynicism from the profession that POM to P switches are just a route to GSL, and that pharmacists are being ‘used’. There is a truth that brands switched from P to GSL see improved sales performance, but for me it’s just a natural extension of life cycle.

An established brand with a profile for broader access, one that doesn’t need the time commitment from pharmacists, should be GSL. It’s not some conspiracy; it’s just a business reality. I worry that if pharmacy does not start to properly support POM to P switches, their cynical worrying becomes a self- fulfilling prophecy.

Pharmacists must demonstrate that they believe they are the rightful place for condition treatment and management to exist. This is so important, because once this true partnership is in place, the value of the consultation and improved experience for consumers will not only enhance their view of pharmacy as a solution, it will radically change the industry’s view. Why switch to GSL a brand where the role of a pharmacist is so intrinsic to the consumer’s experience?

This post also features in this months Pharmacy Magazine supplement reviewing 25 years of POM to P.

Bizarreness reared it six eared head last week, when hordes of photographers and art fans descended on Savemain pharmacy in Essex Road, Islington, after Banksy painted a large mural on the wall depicting three children pledging allegiance to a flagpole with a Tesco plastic bag flying from it. As a fan of the artist, a person fascinated with HCPs, and this being my local pharmacy I felt I had to go and have a look. Speaking to Anand the pharmacist at the family-run business, he said: “We are a little bit surprised at all the fuss - it’s certainly not something we see every day. We had no idea, we just came into work on Monday morning and there it was. Hopefully no-one will do anything to damage it. It would be nice if it helped business.” His uncle Raj hilariously added that “they were considering whether to sell it”

The Islington Gazette has subsequently carried a comment from a spokesman for Tesco, who have a store in Essex Road, who said: “If this proves to be genuine and all indications are it is, then we’re flattered to have been thought of by one of the UK’s foremost contemporary artists. However, we’re not art critics and will leave it to individuals to decide on its poignancy.

Have they missed that this is clearly Banksy’s comment on the demise of the independent pharmacy?

Hope everyone enjoyed the OTCs last night as much as we did. Well judged, great food, lots of laughs all round. Huge congratulations to those who bagged an award. Very deep thanks to organisers Debbie and Val for letting us sponsor the event with our charming honey vodka-issuing ladies Ebony and Danielle. We trust everyone had a chance to sample our nectar. All together now: 1, 2, 3, 4, Hive!!

Fact: the green stamp WILL fade eventually - don’t panic. (If anything has worked for you please let us know.)

All of us here are getting ready for the OTC Marketing Awards. A few last minute emails to write, one job bag to put to print. Hope to bump into you there, after dinner enjoy a shot on us.

A recent comment from a client made me think about how pharmacists act as brand enhancers for patients/consumers.

Pharmacists are highly educated healthcare professionals. Patients have long relied on their valuable skills and used their advice to make a purchase. However, it has been traditional for organisations to communicate with them principally in business terms. This retail-led approach creates dissonance between the relationship pharmacy has with a brand’s manufacturers and the one they have with the brand’s users.

The new Contract, however, changes things. Although the uptake of enhanced services seemed slow to begin with, pharmacy’s growing relationship with patients is now much in evidence. (As it is with other HCPs: the growing weight of pharmacy has strengthened links with prescribers.) With almost 2 years since the independent prescriber act, there are far better opportunities to be had than talking “stock pressure and profit on return”.

Instead, manufacturers who understand and enhance the close relationship between pharmacist and consumer will gain more end-user engagement. A recent study showed that when pharmacists intervened in the sale - not by recommending, but by providing an informed brand initiation - patient compliance increased and patients were more likely to make a repeat purchase. Proof that what can be good for profits can be great for patients.

As the professional identity of the pharmacist sinks in, their challenges revolve around setting the clinical scene and promoting new services to patients. Pharmaceutical companies must continue to track areas of progress and deliver a rounded offer that benefits in-house experts and their patients.

The 2004 “Choosing health through pharmacy” programme envisages that by 2015, pharmacy will be our first stop for health matters. Pharmacists will be qualified to identify disease risk factors, suggest the appropriate treatment steps and refer practitioners when necessary.Going hand in hand with this is the increasing switch of prescription-only-medicines (POMs) to P status - medicines that can be provided by a pharmacist without the need for a doctor’s script. This is good for the drugs bill and so far, good for patients - with a pretty clean slate for switches so far in terms of safety.

Mixed reactions come from pharmacy itself, however. On paper the industry are largely positive but seem reluctant to practice on real life customers. This is not the proactive response that government and industry had hoped for.

Some believe it is too much, too soon, to expect pharmacists to accomplish a GP consulting approach. The first and biggest hurdle may be acceptance. To quote a pharmacist I recently spoke to: “If I had wanted to be a GP I would have become one”.

But the cost of switches must be recouped. So are we doing something wrong? Pharmacists know that switch products have met stringent risk-benefit criteria - I believe so. They value the training on offer - yes. Should we be more aggressive - less trusting of their professional instincts, less patient?

I don’t think a macho upbringing makes strong people. So we need to think hard about support. While the NHS is the main driver of change, we cannot expect that our responsibilities end with branded training. Instead, we’re going to need to co-create opportunities with government and pharmacy to build the secure, confident community practitioners of the future. Watch this space.

We’ve just returned from saying hello to old and new OTC friends at the delightful SMART awards held in Birmingham last night. An excellent evening wonderfully organized and hosted by the team at CIG.

Congratulations to all the 2008 winners. Judging by this morning’s breakfast attendees an excellent time was had by all.

A recent comment from a client made me think about how pharmacists act as brand enhancers for patients/consumers.

Pharmacists are highly educated healthcare professionals. Patients have long relied on their valuable skills and used their advice to make a purchase. However, it has been traditional for organisations to communicate with them principally in business terms. This retail-led approach creates dissonance between the relationship pharmacy has with a brand’s manufacturers and the one they have with the brand’s users.

The new Contract, however, changes things. Although the uptake of enhanced services seemed slow to begin with, pharmacy’s growing relationship with patients is now much in evidence. (As it is with other HCPs: the growing weight of pharmacy has strengthened links with prescribers.) With almost 2 years since the independent prescriber act, there are far better opportunities to be had than talking “stock pressure and POR”.

Instead, manufacturers who understand and enhance the close relationship between pharmacist and consumer will gain more end-user engagement. A recent study by one of our research partners showed that when pharmacists intervened in the sale - not by recommending, but by providing an informed brand initiation - patient compliance increased and patients were more likely to make a repeat purchase. Proof that what can be good for profits can be great for patients.

As the professional identity of the pharmacist sinks in, their challenges revolve around setting the clinical scene and promoting new services to patients. Pharmaceutical companies must continue to track areas of progress and deliver a rounded offer that benefits in-house experts and their patients.